Rep. Ed Towns — The Official Legacy Story

Rep. Ed Towns represented Fort Greene and Clinton Hill for 30 years. He’s gone now, but not without one last look back at his legacy.

President Obama praised Rep. Ed Towns when the 30-year veteran announced earlier this month that he would leave Congress after 15 terms — but then again, the Leader of the Free World isn’t one of Mr. Towns’s constituents.

Closer to home, many residents of the 10th Congressional District, which includes Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, see Mr. Towns as a courtly gentleman, but a flawed public servant — that is, when they see him at all. The Local reached out to more than a dozen community leaders who have been Towns constituents for decades — and no one offered outright praise.

Some offered mixed reviews. Most offered outright scorn.

“He was very unresponsive,” said Lucy Koteen, past president of the Central Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, who has lived in Fort Greene for 30 years. “I never saw him at events in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. He didn’t engage. He just never showed up.”

Mr. Towns withdrew on April 16 under a strong challenge from Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, and Councilman Charles Barron (D–Canarsie). Perhaps after three decades, the 77-year-old Mr. Towns simply ran out of steam.

Click on each photo for the caption.

“You’ve got this old guy who’s slogged his way through,” said Jerome Krase, a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College and co-author of “Ethnicity and Machine Politics.” “Now he’s face to face with two strong challengers. He may be thinking, ‘If I lose this primary, I have nothing. Do I really want to do this?’”

Mr. Towns would not likely have lost — especially in a three-way race. But that’s more a tribute to the power of incumbency and name recognition than any single achievement by the longtime congressman, experts say. Indeed, his career has been controversial — for the wrong reasons. In the 1990s, he took received so many campaign contributions from tobacco firms that he earned the nickname “the Marlboro Man” — even at a time when activists in his communities were slamming cigarette companies for marketing to blacks.

In 1992 alone, Mr. Towns accepted $21,245 in tobacco industry campaign contributions, the ninth highest total of all members of the House. And he ranks seventh in tobacco industry contributions among current House members since 1989.

If Mr. Towns will be remembered at all, it is likely for his decision in 1997 to back Republican Rudy Giuliani against Democrat Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messenger for mayor.

“His thinking is, ‘Whose side should I be on to get what’s best for my constituents?’” said Dr. Krase. “But that also translates into, ‘What’s best for me?’”

Mr. Towns argues that many of his most significant accomplishments have flown under the radar. “I believe I was a man of the people, dealing one-on-one with many issues that I never sought publicity for,” Mr. Towns told The Local on Wednesday.

Back to the Beginning

Mr. Towns was elected to Congress in 1982 at a vastly different period in Brooklyn’s political history. That year, the venerable Rep. Shirley Chisholm retired and her district was split into two as a result of re-districting. The district lines were re-drawn to reflect a growing black population, which paved the way for two representatives to step in: Major Owens and Ed Towns.

Mr. Towns was then the deputy borough president under Howard Golden, a largely symbolic position. “He had a respectable profile as a go-to representative for black central Brooklyn,” said John Flateau, chairman of the department of public administration at Medgar Evers College. “He had enough entre into the political establishment to give him the cache and credibility to step up as a congressman.”

Over the years, Mr. Towns scored a number of victories. He was an early member of the Congressional Black Caucus and stayed around long enough to be a senior member. He has championed health care, education reform and increased funding for historically black colleges.

Mr. Towns also served as chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, a position he held for two years, until the Republicans regained control of the House. In that role, in 2009, he conducted an ambitious series of hearings on the performance of the Marine Corps’ MV-22 Osprey, a costly aircraft whose reliability had been questioned.

In 2010, he accused the head of Toyota of withholding documents while fighting lawsuits filed by crash victims. The carmaker recalled more than eight million vehicles after discovering a dangerous problem with accelerator pedals, but was accused of acting slowly. Mr. Towns has also been a vocal critic of mortgage fraud and Wall Street excess. But that bit of activism was marred when he came under fire for receiving special mortgage loans through a “V.I.P.” program of Countrywide Financial. Mr. Towns acknowledged receiving loans, but denied any impropriety.

Motivational speaker Kevin Powell tried to beat Mr. Towns twice.

Whatever his record, Mr. Towns got elected again and again. In general elections, he won overwhelmingly, often with more than 90 percent of the vote. He only had three even remotely serious primaries.

Supporters say he isn’t given enough credit for being a savvy candidate and knowing his base. “He has strong constituencies among seniors and church-going, socially conservative black folks,” says Dr. Flateau. “He works these networks that are important in low-turnout primaries.”

Mr. Towns, an ordained minister, says he is doing more than simply collecting votes. This is the work he loves. “I have spent many Sundays in the pulpits of churches in my district preaching the gospel,” he said. “I am proud of that.”

Competitors Come Out for Blood

Mr. Towns first stopped skating through primaries in 1997. After the Giuliani endorsement, Democrats enlisted Barry Ford, a Harvard-educated lawyer, to run. Mr. Towns beat Mr. Ford 52 to 36 percent, the narrowest margin to that point in his career. Two years later, he defeated Mr. Ford again 57 to 43 percent.

The primary heated up once more in 2006, when Assemblyman Roger Green and Mr. Barron squared off against Mr. Towns. He managed to beat back both the younger politicians, but it was a wake-up call.

A turning point came in 2008 when Kevin Powell blazed onto the scene. The then 42-year-old writer, community activist and former reality TV star pummeled Mr. Towns with criticism, most sharply for endorsing Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama in the Democratic presidential primary. Ultimately, Mr. Powell bowed out of that race. When he tried again two years ago, Mr. Towns beat him soundly, but emerged tired, bruised and bloodied.

Mr. Towns’s supporters believe the battle against Mr. Powell was the beginning of the end. “Here’s a hip-hop guy with a new vision who has energy, excitement and a message,” said a political operative who’s known Mr. Towns since he was first entered congress. “Ed wasn’t prepared for that kind of attack. It’s frightening when a young guy comes up and says, ‘I’m going to fight you.’”

Mr. Powell remains a staunch, unapologetic critic of Mr. Towns. “He symbolizes a ghetto monarchy so abundant in this country,” said Mr. Powell. “I want to respect my elders, but he was just stuck in office. After a while it seemed like, is this guy just going to die in office doing nothing? That’s the reason why Charles Barron, Hakeem Jeffries, and myself have challenged him.”

And even friends are happy to see him retire.

“He could’ve pulled one more out, but at some point enough is enough,” said the political operative. “With young guys coming up, you realize it’s time to step aside. It’s sad, but I think he made the right decision.”

Dr. Flateau says that Mr. Towns is leaving with style. “You’ve got to give him credit,” he said. “He’s going out with grace and dignity and on his own terms.”

Mr. Towns sums up his own career simply: “Service is what a leader should be remembered for. I hope that is the legacy I have left behind.”

3 Comments

Towns did get involved to try and improve the service at the Post Office on Fulton (at Cambridge Place – 11238.) The service did get noticeably better after his intervention (if you are new to the neighborhood, this may be hard to believe.)

I feel this story is severely one sided and does not give Mr. Towns the credit he deserves. The people that have been interviewed for this article are not from the heart of his district and disagree with his politics. I did not see one black community leader quoted here to discuss the record of the Congressman in a majority black district. With all due to Ms. Koteen, she does not speak for the district. Kevin Powell, who is a person that has run for office repeatedly to promote himself and his book. He has never been elected to anything, and he is NOT a community leader. If he was so respected in the district, the margins that he lost by wouldn’t have been so drastic.
If you are going to write about someone’s legacy, please have enough journalistic integrity to do the proper research and talk to people that don’t have a dog in the race.

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